Play creation project for high school students, called the Collective Creation Project

#LSN_Arts Magnus Theatre

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO October 13, 2017 (LSN)Magnus Theatre runs an annual play creation project for local high school students, called the Collective Creation Project. With the guidance of professional theatre staff, students from across the city come together to write a play on a social issue affecting Thunder Bay. Students are involved in all aspects of the creation of the play, from writing to acting and stage managing.

The Collective Creation Project is offered at no cost to our students. This is a free program for them to participate in. They will be given the chance to enhance their theatrical skills no matter what role they play in the process.

Auditions are typically held in October, with writing workshops held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-6pm, November through to March. Rehearsals then begin in March, with public performances on our mainstage in May or June.

Last year Magnus held a play called ``Invisibles”. “Invisibles” is a play about Invisible Disabilities, which is an umbrella term that encapsulates a spectrum of hidden disabilities. The play follows four students as they deal with an unexpected event, as well as an unseen challenge: each character has a living, breathing invisible disability that shadows them, influencing their decisions, reactions and overall well-being.

This project aims to create awareness of the challenges that people with invisible disabilities face, and the play specifically examines autism, anxiety, depression and learning disabilities. While writing the script, participants gathered information from numerous resources. During the early stages of character development, the students’ personal experiences were discussed to make the story as realistic as possible, as almost all of the young actors have experience with the disabilities mentioned.

This year’s production will be about newcomers to Canada. Magnus is looking for those who are newcomers to Canada and Canadian-born to participate in the play. We see this as a good opportunity to bring awareness to the challenges that young newcomers in Thunder Bay have experienced. This will also give a chance for newcomers to be a part of our Thunder Bay community. As far as we’re aware, no similar project has been done anywhere else in Canada and this might help the cause outside of our community as well.